The former 'High School Musical' star dubs her fellow actress 'one of the strongest women I know' after witnessing Sarah going through two kidney transplants.

Dec 12, 2018

AceShowbiz -
Vanessa Hudgens has described Sarah Hyland as a "mighty" woman. Shortly after the "Modern Family" star got in front of the camera to show scars from multiple surgeries related to her kidney dysplasia, the Gabriella Montez of "High School Musical" film series got vocal about the admiration she has for her longtime friend’s bravery.

Having bore witness to Hyland’s two kidney transplants, Hudgens opened up to PEOPLE Now about what she thinks of the 28-year-old. "I always will see her as this like tough New Yorker even though she's so petite," she gushed. "She is small but mighty! I’m just really proud of her for sharing her truth."

During the interview, the 29-year-old actress also shared, "I remember when she needed her first transplant and I remember when her body was rejecting it and I remember when she needed her second one. I'm so proud of her for being brave to share her story with the world, because it was a very emotional and taxing thing for her." She added, "She's just one of the strongest women I know."

Hyland recently confessed to undergoing a second kidney transplant. In an interview with SELF magazine that was published on December 10, she tearfully admitted that she got "very depressed" when her body rejected her father’s kidney. In 2017, she went under the knife once again for another transplant. This time around, the kidney came from her brother Ian Hyland.

"When a family member gives you a second chance at life, and it fails, it almost feels like it's your fault. It's not. But it does," she explained. "For a long time, I was contemplating suicide, because I didn't want to fail my little brother like I failed my dad. I had gone through (my whole life) of always being a burden, of always having to be looked after, having to be cared for."

In a video for the interview, the girlfriend of Wells Adams went even further by exposing the scars from the surgeries she had. "It kind of looks like a samurai sword attack or a shark bite," she said. "For someone being so tiny to have a stomach that looks like the Jersey turnpike just shows who I am and what kind of character I have."